Craps

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

Be smart, play smart, and become versed in craps the proper way!

Games that use dice and the dice themselves goes all the way back to the Crusades, but current craps is approximately a century old. Current craps formed from the 12th Century English game called Hazard. No one absolutely knows the origin of the game, however Hazard is said to have been created by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, in the 12th century. It’s presumed that Sir William’s soldiers enjoyed Hazard through a siege on the fortification Hazarth in 1125 AD. The title Hazard was gotten from the fortification’s name.

Early French colonizers imported the game Hazard to Acadia. In the 18th century, when driven away by the English, the French relocated down south and settled in the south of Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they fled Acadia, they brought their preferred game, Hazard, along. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it mathematically fair. It’s said that the Cajuns changed the title to craps, which was derived from the name of the bad luck toss of 2 in the game of Hazard, referred to as "crabs."

From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi river boats and all over the nation. Many acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the father of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn developed the current craps setup. He created the Don’t Pass line so gamblers could wager on the dice to lose. Afterwords, he invented the spaces for Place wagers and added the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.